The teams of the 1st Badminton Bundesliga have to be patient for another two weeks, but for TV Refrath the season in the 2nd division starts on the weekend. There are games with purely German participation – foreign players do not travel due to Corona.
After the end of the season in mid-March, you can look forward to the host clubs, which are trying to get the games off the stage with different hygiene concepts.
The 2nd team of the TV Refrath travels to Berlin to compete against the alleged relegated team from last season. EBT Berlin and SV Berliner Brauereien ultimately benefited from the end of the season two game days before the end, as they were 9th and 10th in the table at the time.
Duels without international players
It will not only be interesting to see how the two capital city clubs present themselves, but also how all the teams get by without their international players, most of whom are not allowed or do not want to enter.
The latter does not affect TV Refrath 2 because the team consists entirely of experienced and young German players. The former Russian world class player Ella Diehl alone brings an international “touch” to the team. She came to TVR from BV Wesel RW after the last season and has lived in Germany for many years.
Ella Diehl makes her debut for her new club as does the youth national player and two-time German U19 champion Leona Michalski. With this duo, the TVR probably has the strongest women in the league and with Jenny Karnott has another top lady in its ranks.
Old hands and rookies
The men’s team consists of three veterans and a few young players. Captain Denis Nyenhuis (34), Mark Byerly (26) and returnees Kai Waldenberger (37) stand at the side of Christopher Klauer (21) and Elias Beckmann (20). The two youngest players Bennet Peters and Corvin Schmitz celebrate their 18th and 19th birthday right at the beginning of the season and will receive several appearances over the course of the season.
Of this ten-man squad, however, only four men and two women travel to Berlin at the weekend. These will be: Klauer, Nyenhuis, Byerly, Beckmann, Diehl and Michalski. They expect close games, especially on the men’s side, and hope for two close wins for TV Refrath.
